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Guest Viewpoint

Programs help homeless vets find, keep housing

The death by exposure on a frigid winter night of military veteran Maj. Thomas Egan in 2008 placed a bright spotlight on the plight of homeless veterans.

One local response was the creation of the Thomas Egan Warming Centers, staffed by caring volunteers, providing shelter to the homeless on cold winter nights. Other responses by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs have created a nation- and community-wide effort to actually house homeless veterans, called Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) and Supportive Services for Veteran Families program (SSVF). Locally, the Housing and Community Services Agency of Lane County administers the VASH program and St. Vincent de Paul administers the SSVF program.

Last November, Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy and Lane County Commissioner Pat Farr launched Operation 365 with the goal of housing 365 homeless Veterans by November of this year. Two hundred thirty homeless veterans have been successfully housed, and we need help to finish this critical mission in support of our Veterans.

Through the VASH program, homeless veterans are provided vouchers administered through HACSA. They serve as a special class of Section 8 voucher. Since the passage of the Housing Choice Act of 2013, discrimination against agency- or government-funded rent subsidies has been outlawed.

Legislators dedicated this fund to pay up to $5,000 to qualifying landlords who have sustained damage to a rental property from a VASH or Section 8 voucher tenancy.

For most landlords, providing rental housing is a business, not a charity. Access to this fund helps make renting to a voucher-holder a smarter business decision.

Under the SSVF program, St. Vincent de Paul provides supportive services to very low-income veteran families living in or transitioning to permanent housing. SVdP provides eligible veteran families with outreach, case management and assistance in obtaining VA and other benefits, which includes time-limited payments to third parties (such as landlords, utility companies, moving companies, and licensed child care providers) if these payments help veteran families stay in or acquire permanent housing on a sustainable basis.

Perhaps the most crucial contribution to the success of VASH and SSVF is one-on-one case management. Obtaining housing is the first step; maintaining that housing often requires encouragement, education and direct assistance. Residents must pay rent and other bills on time, follow the terms of their rental agreement, maintain the unit properly, and not disturb the peaceful enjoyment of their neighbors, or allow their guests to do so.

Case managers are trained in helping veterans find housing and supporting these veterans as they increase their self-sufficiency.

They will communicate and visit regularly with residents and landlords to ensure that the housing placement is working for all parties and in the event of tenant non-compliance, housing providers retain their full enforcement rights under landlord-tenant law.

HACSA no longer limits tenancies to a one-year lease, but allows any fixed-term or month-to-month rental agreement.

There is more paperwork at the beginning, and a few differences in regards to things such as service of notices and end dates of termination notices, but in exchange, landlords receive market-rate rents, guaranteed housing payments, one-on-one case management, and access to the landlord mitigation fund.

They also become part of a larger local and national movement that seeks to find ways to help those who sacrificed for us.

If you have a studio, one-bedroom, or small two-bedroom unit, please consider offering your unit to a homeless veteran. Contact Tonya Cates from SVdP at tonya.cates@svdp.us or 541 687-5820 to offer your unit or to receive more information.

Jacob Fox is executive director of the Housing & Community Services Agency of Lane County. Tia Politi is president of the Rental Owners Association of Lane County.